New working group to tackle Indonesia-Australia relations in wake of executions

Transcript from ABC Radio

The Indonesia Institute and Perth USAsia Centre have formed an international working group to mitigate any trade fallout between Australia and Indonesia following the executions of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. The group's first meeting last night focused on how to limit damage and improve relations between the two countries in the long term.

MARK COLVIN: The Indonesia Institute and the Perth USAsia Centre are forming a working group to reduce any potential fallout between the two countries.

Indonesia Institute president Ross Taylor will approach former ambassadors, trade groups and academics to be involved. He says the group's first meeting last night focused on how to limit damage from the executions and improve relations between the two countries in the long term.

Lucy Martin reports.

LUCY MARTIN: Australian exporters say trade with Indonesia is continuing as normal, despite escalating diplomatic tensions over the executions.

The president of the Perth-based Indonesia Institute Ross Taylor wants to keep it that way.

ROSS TAYLOR: We are involved with a number of organisations now just quietly behind the scenes about developing a working group, which would be a non-political working group consisting of people from Indonesia and also Australia to look at how we can firstly redevelop the relationship after this fairly nasty incident that took place yesterday.

LUCY MARTIN: Mr Taylor says established Australian businesses and industries in Indonesia have a long history of riding out diplomatic tensions and aren't under threat.

ROSS TAYLOR: I think the challenge for Australia now is how do we start to actually add value to those relationships? So whether you're talking about beef, dairy cattle or manufacturing, there are very, very good opportunities to take the capacity that Australia has as a modern advanced nation and combine them with Indonesia that has labour, great rainfall, location for markets and a growing economy to really work together and to do some very good things.

But you need the environment of trust between our two countries to really to be able to implement such a program and I think that's what lacking at the moment.

LUCY MARTIN: The group is looking at recruiting members from the academic arena, business sector, trade groups and NGOs (non government organisations) in both Australia and Indonesia. But it's not just about smoothing diplomatic bumps in the road.

ROSS TAYLOR: It's very common knowledge within Australia's business with Indonesia that we refer to it as being very underdone and lukewarm and it is. There are huge opportunities there for Australia. These are really being taken up as Indonesia now looks north and not south and the time is now for Australia as Indonesia has something like 100 million people moving into the middle class in the next 10 or 15 years and we need to position ourselves very quickly to take advantage of these huge opportunities.

LUCY MARTIN: The Western Australian Pastoralists and Graziers Association agrees such a group is needed.

Digby Stretch is the PGA's head of livestock.

DIGBY STRETCH: When there's issues between neighbours, and Indonesia are one of our closest and certainly very large neighbour and an important neighbour, when there's issues with neighbours you need to work with them, you need to communicate with them and develop solutions to problems, not just highlight the problems. And I believe that a platform like this will have great weight in moving things ahead with Indonesia.

LUCY MARTIN: Mr Stretch says members of northern Australia's live export industry could make a valuable contribution to the group.

The working group will approach the Australian and Indonesian governments to discuss its intentions.

MARK COLVIN: Lucy Martin.

Kyle will certainly keep you informed and between Kyle, Phil Turtle (AIBC-WA) and myself, please be assured that we shall do everything possible to protect, rebuild and expand this very important relationship between our two countries.